Page:EB1911 - Volume 15.djvu/715

Rh name of the state is Jammu and Kashmir, and it comprises in all an estimated area of 80,900 sq. m., with a population (1901) of 2,905,578, showing an increase of 14.21% in the decade. It is bounded on the north by some petty hills chiefships and by the Karakoram mountains; on the east by Tibet; and on the south and west by the Punjab and North-West Frontier provinces. The state is in direct political subordination to the Government of India, which is represented by a resident. Its territories comprise the provinces of Jammu (including the jagir of Punch), Kashmir, Ladakh, Baltistan and Gilgit; the Shin states of Yaghistan, of which the most important are Chilas, Darel and Tangir, are nominally subordinate to it, and the two former pay a tribute of gold dust. The following are the statistics for the main divisions of the state:—

The remainder of the state consists of uninhabited mountains, and its only really important possessions are the districts of Jammu and Kashmir.

Physical Conformation.—The greater portion of the country is mountainous, and with the exception of a strip of plain on the south-west, which is continuous with the great level of the Punjab, may be conveniently divided into the following regions:

(1) The outer hills and the central mountains of Jammu district.

(2) The valley of Kashmir.

(3) The far side of the great central range, including Ladakh, Baltistan and Gilgit.

The hills in the outer region of Jammu, adjoining the Punjab plains, begin with a height of 100 to 200 ft., followed by a tract of rugged country, including various ridges running nearly parallel, with long narrow valleys between. The average height of these ridges is from 3000 to 4000 ft. The central mountains are commonly 8000 to 10,000 ft., covered with pasture or else with forest. Then follow the more lofty mountain ranges, including the region of perpetual snow. A great chain of snowy mountains branching off south-east and north-west divides the drainage of the Chenab and the Jhelum rivers from that of the higher branches of the Indus. It is within spurs from this chain that the valley of Kashmir is enclosed amid hills which rise from 14,000 to 15,000 ft., while the valley itself forms a cup-like basin at an elevation of 5000 to 6000 ft. All beyond that great range is a wide tract of mountainous country, bordering the north-western part of Tibet and embracing Ladakh, Baltistan and Gilgit.

The length of the Kashmir valley, including the inner slopes of its surrounding hills, is about 120 m. from north-west to south-east with a maximum width of about 75 m. The low and comparatively level floor of the basin is 84 m. long and 20 to 24 m. broad.

The hills forming the northern half-circuit of the Kashmir valley, and running beyond, include many lofty mountain masses and peaks, the most conspicuous of which, a little outside the confines of Kashmir, is Nanga Parbat, the fourth highest mountain in the world, 26,656 ft. above the sea, with an extensive area of glacier on its eastern face. The great ridge which is thrown off to the south-west by Nanga Parbat rises, at a distance of 12 m., to another summit 20,740 ft. in height, from which run south-west, and south-east the ridges which are the northern watershed boundary of Kashmir. The former range, after running 70 m. south-west, between the valleys of the Kishenganga and the Kunhar or Nain-sukh, turns southward, closely pressing the river Jhelum, after it has received the Kishenganga, with a break a few miles farther south which admits the Kunhar. This range presents several prominent summits, the highest two 16,487 and 15,544 ft. above the sea. The range which runs south-east from the junction peak above mentioned divides the valley of the Kishenganga from that of the Astor and other tributaries of the Indus. The highest point on this range, where it skirts Kashmir, is 17,202 ft. above the sea. For more than 50 m. from Nanga Parbat there are no glaciers on this range; thence eastward they increase; one, near the Zoji-la pass, is only 10,850 ft. above the sea. The mountains at the east end of the valley, running nearly north and south, drain inwards to the Jhelum, and on the other side to the Wardwan, a tributary of the Chenab. The highest part of this eastern boundary is 14,700 ft. There no are glaciers. The highest point on the Panjal range, which forms the south and south-west boundary, is 15,523 ft. above the sea.

The river (q.v.) or Behat (Sanskrit (Vitasta)—the Hydaspes of Greek historians and geographers—flows north-westward through the middle of the valley. After a slow and winding course it expands about 25 m. below Srinagar, over a slight depression in the plain, and forms the Wular lake and marsh, which is about 12 m. by 5 m. in extent, and surrounded by the lofty mountains which tower over the north and north-east of the valley. Leaving the lake on the south-west side, near the town of Sopur, the river pursues its sluggish course south-westward, about 18 m. to the gorge at Baramulla. From this point the stream is more rapid through the narrow valley which conducts it westward 75 m. to Muzaffarabad, where it turns sharply south, joined by the Kishenganga. At Islamabad, about 40 m. above Srinagar, the river is 5400 ft. above sea-level, and at Srinagar 5235 ft. It has thus a fall of about 4 ft. per mile in this part of its course. For the next 24 m. to the Wular lake, and thence to Baramulla, its fall is only about 2 ft. in the mile. On the 80 m. of the river in the flat valley between Islamabad and Baramulla, there is much boat traffic; but none below Baramulla, till the river comes out into the plains.

On the north-east side of this low narrow plain of the Jhelum is a broad hilly tract between which and the higher boundary range runs the Kishenganga River. Near the east end of this interior hilly tract, and connected with the higher range, is one summit 17,839 ft. Around this peak and between the ridges which run from it are many small glaciers. These heights look down on one side into the beautiful valley of the Sind River, and on another into the valley of the Lidar, which join the Jhelum. Among the hills north of Srinagar rises one conspicuous mountain mass, 16,903 ft. in height, from which on its north side descend tributaries of the Kishenganga, and on the south the Wangat River, which flows into the Sind. By these rivers and their numerous affluents the whole valley of Kashmir is watered abundantly.

Around the foot of many spurs of the hills which run down on the Kashmir plain are pieces of low table-land, called karéwa. These terraces vary in height at different parts of the valley from 100 to 300 ft. above the alluvial plain. Those which are near each other are mostly about the same level, and separated by deep ravines. The level plain in the middle of the Kashmir valley consists of fine clay and sand, with water-worn pebbles. The karewas consist of horizontal beds of clay and sand, the lacustrine nature of which is shown by the shells which they contain.

Two passes lead northward from the Kashmir valley, the Burzil (13,500 ft.) and the Kamri (14,050). The Burzil is the main pass between Srinagar and Gilgit via Astor. It is usually practicable only between the middle of July and the middle of September. The road from Srinagar to Lehin Ladakh follows the Sind valley to the Zoji-la-pass (11,300 ft.) Only a short piece of the road, where snow accumulates, prevents this pass being used all the year. At the south-east end of the valley are three passes, the Margan (11,500 ft.), the Hoksar (13,315) and the Marbal (11,500), leading to the valleys of the Chenab and the Ravi. South of Islamabad, on the direct route to Jammu and Sialkot, is the Banihal pass (9236 ft.). Further west on the Panjal range is the Pir Panjal or Panchal pass (11,400 ft.), with a second pass, the Rattan Pir (8200 ft.), across a second ridge about 15 m. south-west of it. Between the two passes is the beautifully situated fort of Baramgali. This place is in the domain of the raja of Punch, cousin and tributary of the maharaja of Kashmir. At Rajaori, south of these passes, the road divides: one line leads to Bhimber and Gujrat, the other to Jammu and Sialkot by Aknur. South-west of Baramulla is the Haji Pir pass (8500 ft.), which indicates the road to Punch. From Punch one road leads down to the plains at the town of Jhelum, another eastward through the hills to the Rattan Pir pass and Rajaori. Lastly, there is the river pass of the Jhelum, which is the easy route from the valley westward, having two ways down to the plains, one by Muzaffarabad and the Hazara valley to Hasan Abdal, the other by the British hill station of Murree to Rawalpindi.

Geology.—The general strike of the beds, and of the folds which have affected them, is from N.W. to S.E., parallel to the mountain ranges. Along the south-western border lies the zone of Tertiary beds which forms the Sub-Himalayas. Next to this is a great belt of Palaeozoic rocks, through which rise the granite, gneiss and schist of the Zanskar and Dhauladhar ranges and of the Pir Panjal. In the midst of the Palaeozoic area lie the alluvium and Pleistocene deposits of the Srinagar valley, and the Mesozoic and Carboniferous basin of the upper part of the Sind valley. Beyond the great Palaeozoic belt is a zone of Mesozoic and Tertiary beds which commences at Kargil and extends south-eastward past the Kashmir boundary to Spiti and beyond. Finally, in Baltistan and the Ladakh range there is a broad zone composed chiefly of gneiss and schist of ancient date.

The oldest fossils found belong either to the Ordovician or Silurian systems. But it is not until the Carboniferous is reached that fossils become at all abundant (so far as is yet known). The Mesozoic deposits belong chiefly to the Trias and Jura, but Cretaceous beds have been found near the head of the Tsarap valley. The Tertiary system includes representatives of all the principal divisions recognized in other parts of the Himalayas.

Climate.—The valley of Kashmir, sheltered from the south-west monsoon by the Panjal range, has not the periodical rains of India. Its rainfall is irregular, greatest in the spring months. Occasional